Never Too Late To Apologize
by NerdyLeighAnne
Summary: Draco decides he's tired of following in his father's footsteps, so when he calls Hermione a Mudblood before a Quidditch practice (again), he lies to Slytherin's captain to apologize. Dramione.


A/N: So this could be in any of the books or movies really, we know what Draco's like. Although, preferably, it's in Goblet of Fire (if the Triwizard Tournament hadn't happened so GOF AU) or Order of the Phoenix (before the D.A. was organized). That's all I need to say.

O0O0O

"Nobody asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," said Draco. Almost immediately Hermione ran back into the castle. Draco plastered a satisfied smile on his face, but inside he was mad at himself. As the Slytherin Quidditch team made their way to the field, he ran up to Marcus Flint, Slytherin's team captain. "Hey, I forgot to grab one of my — gloves," he said, quickly taking off one of his gloves, as Marcus wasn't looking.

Instead of going to the Slytherin common room, Draco tried to figure out where Hermione had gone. It'd only been a few seconds since Hermione had left. He heard familiar sobbing.

"Granger! Hold up!" shouted Draco, speeding up. He turned a corner and saw bushy brown hair turn the corner just down the corridor. "Hermione!"

"What do you want, to call me Mudblood again?" she asked once he caught up.

"No, I wanted to say I'm sorry," said Draco, tucking a loose strand of hair behind Hermione's ear.

"Why? Not like you care about my feelings," she said, pulling away from his touch.

"I do," said Draco. "I just don't want the rest of Slytherin to hate me."

"If you're truly sorry, prove it." 'Now's your chance, Draco, don't blow it,' thought Draco. A door showed up in front of him. He grabbed Hermione's hand, taking her in the room with him. Once the door was shut, he grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her on the lips. Hermione stood surprised for a minute, then started kissing him back.

"Is that proof enough?" asked Draco after breaking the contact. Hermione gave him a hug in response. "Oh, no, Quidditch practice!"

"You have to go?" asked Hermione, backing up slightly from the gray-eyed blonde in front of her.

"Oh, now you want me to stay?" said Draco, smirking.

"I —" started Hermione. She smiled. "Maybe."

"Okay, when Flint finds me I'll tell him I wasn't feeling well and went to the hospital wing," said Draco. He went back to kissing her. When they finally left the room, Ron and Harry were standing there.

"Hey, Ron, could you maybe go? I need to talk to these two alone," said Hermione. Ron walked off, but not before punching Draco's shoulder.

"Ow," he said, rubbing it. "I didn't do anything, Weasel-Bee!"

"Harry, please don't tell Ron, but— well—"

"We may have kissed in there," said Draco. He pointed at the door behind him.

"It'll be hard, but I think I can keep it a secret," said Harry. "This doesn't mean we're friends, by the way."

"I know," said Draco. "Can we at least not be major enemies?"

"Fine," said Harry. Draco hugged Hermione, then pulled Harry in for a group hug. "What'd we agree on?" said Harry.

"Sorry, got caught up in the moment," said Draco. "Bye." He waved to Harry as he left.

"So, Drake, what do you want to do? I mean, I know you have Quidditch but I want to get to know you better," said Hermione.

"'Kay," said Draco. "Well, I don't actually hate what most purebloods call Mudbloods. I don't have anything against them, I bet you have one witch or wizard far back in your genealogy."

Hermione began to talk but was interrupted by loud footsteps.

"Oh, no, it's Flint," said Draco. "Get behind me, he'll be mad when he sees I've been hanging out with Gryffindors."

Hermione did as he said, and quickly hid behind him.

"Malfoy!" shouted Marcus Flint, storming down the hall towards them. Draco stepped in front of Hermione defensively; he actually had his wand out.

"You better not hurt me or Hermione," he said.

"So that's where you were," said Marcus; Draco quickly stretched his arms out to protect Hermione. "You were apologizing to the Mudblood."

"Don't you dare call her a Mudblood!" shouted Draco.

"Why? Why shouldn't I?"

"There's no reason to call witches and wizards of her birth Mudblood," answered Draco calmly. He still had his arms out to defend Hermione if he needed to.

"Get down to the Quidditch pitch, now!" shouted Marcus.

"No! I'm going to spend time with my lovely girlfriend!" said Draco.

"Fine," said Marcus. "If you're going to be like that, go ahead. I don't care anymore, you can resign."

"I never said I'm never going to practice again, I only said I wasn't going today."

"Fine. Bye," said Marcus.

"Thanks," said Hermione quietly.

"No problem," said Draco. "I love you, I have since I first laid eyes on you, actually. I just didn't want to get a Howler for it, so I kept it a secret. Besides, my father would disown me, I guarantee it."

"And now?"

"I don't care anymore," said Draco. "If he's going to be mean about it, I'll let him."

O0O0O

A/N: I know, another short one-shot. But I try, and I thought this would be cute. Thank you for reading, and I appreciate reviews. Bye!


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